One of the ways I like to encourage people is to tell them to do what you do for the glory of God, and do it strategically for the mission of God. We might immediately associate this principle to our professional lives, but it applies to our personal lives, as well.
Have you ever stopped to consider how you can leverage your relationships and family rhythms for the sake of the gospel and the kingdom?
Years ago, my wife, Ashley, and a group of her mom friends started hosting their weekly play dates in a community that had a large refugee population. That simple move led to new relationships, gospel conversations and ministry to a number of refugee moms and their families.
Our family is now in a stage where our kids are developing lives of their own. Last year, I invited one of the coaches of my children’s sports team to church, and his family came with us to a service during Christmas. Now we’re engaged in regular conversations about faith.
Not too long ago, I was traveling and invited a person I met on my flight to church. He seemed interested, but we lost touch because I didn’t have his contact information. Then about three weeks later, I bumped into him at church. With a surprised expression, I asked him, “What are you doing here?” He said, “Because you invited me.”
I know sharing the gospel can be a scary thing for some, but I’ve found people to be more open to such conversations than we might think or assume. Looking for ways to incorporate evangelistic conversations and invitations to church through our regular rhythms and routines can pay dividends, particularly at this time of year.
The weeks leading up to Easter are great times to evangelize and invite people to church. While we live in a post-Christian culture, there are still a number of people who are open to having gospel conversations and attending church or some type of church function.
I talk to a lot of pastors who say they get a lot of guests who come to church on Easter, Palm Sunday or other special events this time of year. They also see a lot of people profess new faith in Christ. This Easter, I encourage pastors to call for people to trust and follow Christ and then baptize those new believers the following week.
That’s the idea behind the “Fill the Tank” baptism emphasis scheduled for April 16 on the Sunday following Easter. We’re encouraging N.C. Baptist churches fill their baptism tanks on that day and trust God to save souls between now and then.
The last time we did this in the fall of 2021, we had about half of our participating N.C. Baptist churches from across the state take part. We saw God move in a mighty way with more than 1,000 people baptized. We hope that by doing this again it will spur us to pray, share the gospel and trust God to do what only He can do.
We are simply asking the Lord to stir our baptism waters and believing that He will. So however your church does baptism – whether in a baptistry, in a trough or in a river – will you commit to fill the tank on April 16? You can learn more, register your church’s commitment and find additional resources at fillthetanknc.org.
(EDITOR’S NOTE – This article appears in the March 2023 edition of the Biblical Recorder magazine.)
